mosaicMo

Hi all.
I'm sure this must have been asked a hundred times on this forum - but I can't find an answer to my query so I thought I would ask...

I've lived in New Zealand since April 1999 and will be turning 65 in a couple of months. I have just begun the process of applying for my NZ Super. I am awaiting my magic number from WINZ to begin the process online. However, I have noticed by reading online that if you have lived and worked in the UK before emigrating to NZ, you also have to apply for a UK State pension. Is this correct? I was just going to ignore the UK pension altogether as, being an NZ citizen since 2011, I don't feel I belong to the UK anymore for financial reasons. Do you have to apply for a UK pension or can you opt out and just receive the NZ Super?

Thanks for any advice.

BEVS

Yes. When you become eligible for your UK state pension you must apply for it.It is a requirement

As you have elected to uptake the NZ superannuation , you will simply select to have your UK state pension paid direct to the NZ government. It is an offset per the reciprocal agreement.

Work and Income can help you through this come the time . They will also help you with what details to put if needs be.

Of course, if you elect to receive the UK state pension (frozen) then you cannot also receive NZ super.

mosaicMo

Thank you BEVS for your quick reply. I've just received my Client number from Work and Income so I'll start the process today.

Justcol

What happens for the first year once you reach 65?
currently the NZ retirement age is 65 and the UK is 66
What do you get during the first year as you will not be eligible for the UK pension at that point 🤔

BEVS

I can answer this , the old codger that I now am.

You apply for NZ super at age 65 . Of course you must meet the criteria and be eligible. You are then paid your NZ super.

Once you reach UK state pension age then you must apply for that . In my case I think it was 65 and 9 months.

If you elect to take your UK pension then your NZ super will stop.
If you stick with your NZ super then NZ gains your UK state pension at that point, whatever that is, into its coffers.
If you emigrate as a UK pensioner on a UK state pension you can elect which you would prefer to receive.

BEVS

OK. you will note for W&I that you will become eligible for the UK state pension at whatever date that is. At that point in the future you will apply for the UK state pension and then hand it over to NZ. W&I will be able to give a bank a/c detail for this. It is a pool account.

Justcol

Ok, just to branch out a bit here.
am I correct in thinking NZ stop super payments after 6 months if you move overseas ?

If that's the case I would be better keeping my UK pension as I have conditions on me seeing my days out here and I could draw my UK pension wherever I end up

BEVS

If you are out of the country for more than 6 months it may be stopped. However that depends where you move to. Have a read

You would not be entitled to a full UK state pension unless you have enough qualifying years which likely you don't. First off you need to obtain a forecast . Have a bit of a read.

One of my questions in this is, can NZ work years be used towards UK qualifying credits given the reciprocal agreement. So far that has been to hard to get a definitive answer.

Justcol

I can't get a forecast as I can't confirm my ID online at this point.

29 years and 10 months continuous national insurance payments. Never out of work between 16 to 45 when I left for NZ.
If that's not enough to qualify for a full pension, what is. How much blood do they want 😳

Justcol

I can't get a forecast as I can't confirm my ID online at this point.

29 years and 10 months continuous national insurance payments. Never out of work between 16 to 45 when I left for NZ.
If that's not enough to qualify for a full pension, what is. How much blood do they want 😳

LittleGreyCat

It might be worth looking at extra contributions, if you haven't passed the cut off.
Guidance on years
"You’ll need 35 qualifying years to get the new full State Pension if you do not have a National Insurance record before 6 April 2016."
However the site is very coy about revealing how many years you have to put in to get a full state pension.

I think you may need more years than you have, although you should get a decent pension for that many years.

From my own pension, I think that 35 years is probably the number, as I had just under that (I think) and did the sums and it didn't seem worth paying for a top up.
However my Lady Wife had an illustration which showed that the top up was good value for money.

Have you considered using a VPN to the UK if your internet address shows you are in NZ and only UK addresses are accepted?

Justcol

it's not because I'm in NZ. It's because the site says I don't have a chip reader in my phone to scan my passport.

I'm assuming I have a "record" prior to 2016, as I had been paying since 1979. My understanding of the statement is, those starting to make payments after 2016 will need to accumulate 35 years. I'm sure when I left for NZ, the required amount was 27 years, which I had 🤔

LittleGreyCat

I think they have messed about with the numbers since you left.
The important thing is what contributions were required at the time you reach(ed) pension age.
I'm pretty sure that it was 35 when I hit 65 in 2015, as I had 27 years from first job, couple of years contracting, then 4 more years from second job and I didn't quite qualify for full pension.
Then again I was contracted out for some of the time, so who knows.

With regards to the phone, do you know someone who has one you could borrow?
I can't offer at the moment because I'm in the wrong hemisphere.

Justcol

I'll have a longer look into it. I'm not in a rush, I've got 4 years to go yet.
I might even have upgraded my old phone by then 😁

spouse of scouse

This link will tell you at what age you'll be eligible for your UK State pension https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y/age

As to how much you'll get, you'll need 35 years of NI contributions to receive the full pension, if you have less the amount will be pro-rata.
As others have said, if you were contracted out at any period you won't get the full amount even if you do have 35 years of contributions.